Unique Study Finds Women in Canada’s North at Alarmingly High Risk of Homelessness.
Unique Study Finds Women in Canada’s North at Alarmingly High Risk of Homelessness. Study Results to be Released at Ottawa Press Conference November 14.
Ottawa, November12, 2007 – The first-ever pan-territorial study on homelessness sheds a stark light on the bleak realities facing many women and their children living in Canada’s North. You Just Blink and It Can Happen: A Study of Women’s Homelessness North of 60 concludes that thousands of women and their children live in absolute or “hidden” homelessness.
Northern women have been largely excluded from other studies on homelessness. This research brings forth the compelling voices of 205 women and service providers interviewed across the three territories. The findings show that there are many complex factors contributing to homelessness in the North that go well beyond housing shortages. From community isolation and harsh weather conditions to socio-cultural breakdown, health issues and labour market practices that penalize women; the report highlights the enormous challenges facing women North of 60.
“A Study of Women’s Homelessness North of 60” makes 16 recommendations calling on all levels of government to help resolve what has become one of the North’s, and indeed Canada’s, most pressing social concerns.
What:
Media briefing on You Just Blink and It Can Happen: A Study of Women’s Homelessness North of 60, followed by a Q & A period.
When:
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007. Media Briefing at 11 am with Q&A from 11.10-11.30 There will be opportunities for one-on-one interviews with the principal researcher, the territorial leads and YWCA Canada representatives following the press conference.
Where:
Charles Lynch Room in the Centre Block on Parliament Hill
Who:
Lyda Fuller, Executive Director of YWCA Yellowknife; Charlotte Hrenchuk of the Yukon Status of Women Council; Shylah Elliott of the Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council; Judie Bopp (PhD), Principal Researcher, Four Worlds Centre for Development Learning.
Copies of the full Pan-Territorial Report, Executive Summaries and related material will be available on site.
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For further information, to arrange interviews and meetings, contact:
Before Wednesday November 14, 2007, call tel. 416-962-8881
Mélusine Klein, (x233) or Virginia Bawlf, (x244);
On site in Ottawa on Wednesday November 14, 2007, call 416-708-6879 (cell)
For copies of the three Territorial Reports, follow the available links below:
The Little Voices of Nunavut: A Study of women’s Homelessness North of 60
Executive Summary in French and in Inuktitut
Being Homeless is Getting to be normal: A Study of Women’s Homelessness in the Northwest Territories
English Report
Executive Summary in French
A Little Kindness would Go a long way: A Study of women’s Homelessness in the Yukon
